born April 16, 1871, Rathfarnham, near Dublin, Ire.
died March 24, 1909, Dublin
Irish playwright.
After studying languages and music in Dublin and France, he met In the Shadow of the Glen (1903) and Riders to the Sea (1904), on islanders' stories. His travels on the Irish west coast inspired his most famous play, The Playboy of the Western World (1907); its unsentimental treatment of Irish character traits caused riots at its opening at the {{link=Abbey Theatre">Abbey Theatre . His unfinished Deirdre of the Sorrows was performed in 1910. A poetic dramatist of great power, he was a leading figure of the Irish literary renaissance .